Galatea: The wraith of a forgotten goddess
by LiaMerez
Summary: "You're the weakest princess in history" nobles whisper behind her back. "I gave up everything for you" a fairy remembers, regretting. "And they say of death that it is cruel and ambitious but it is nothing but oblivion and eternal time" the goddess hisses. Now there is no turning back. Betrayal never comes from your enemies and two princesses will have to mend their mistakes.
1. Prologue: A dream story

_«My world doesn't spin and it's hard to feel, the sun no longer shines and I don't know where to go»_

**(I)**

I'm standing in front of Stella's room. I knock on the door, but nobody opens it for me. A pawl of darkness presses on my heart without mercy. These last few days have been like this. None of my friends let me pass. It doesn't matter how much I knock, it doesn't matter if I leave my knuckles raw, they don't open.

It's been hours, but I'm still here.

A knot in my throat suffocates me little by little, while the blackish tentacles climb up my body. At first, their touch is soft, it even tickles me. As if they wanted to remind me that I can still feel something. But with all of the girls ignoring me, that feeling fades away.

When I go down to the common dining room, they keep my place with suspicion. A little light of hope melts my heart. But when I sit down, no one notices my presence. I don't understand what's going on.

I talk to them, I whisper in their ears, I even yell at them. But it's as if my voice was blown away by the wind.

—Flora, love, tell me something —I beg her, with the hoarse voice of repeating the same phrase so much. But she doesn't listen to me.

An icy branch is stuck in my spine. I clench my fists and close my eyes tightly.

—Stella, Stella, I promise not to touch your things again —I say to the air. I'll never joke again that you have no feelings, Tecna, but just listen to me...please.

And that's when my voice breaks and the blackness that surrounds me takes over my veins. I must look sick, but I don't dare look in a mirror. I'm afraid they too have forgotten how to reflect on me.

Hours pass, dragging a gloomy sun along with them. I stay in my place, watching as fairies and teachers leave. That bustle that sounds so full of echoes, whose laughter, that indifference. I don't know the reason, but everything around me feels opaque, distant, and cloudy. Veiled by a thin film of grey mist. It's as if the darkness inside me had won the battle. I look at my arms: even my own skin is blurred and discolored.

The night comes, accentuating the shadows and extirpating, even more, the colors of the world.

I take advantage of the fact that the room that Flora and I share is ajar to pass. The moon reigns in the sky, with its dim and melancholic light.

My girlfriend is huddled between the sheets, hugging Kiko like a stuffed animal. I caress my little rabbit, but its fur doesn't turn an inch. I don't seem to have touched him, and he doesn't wake up either, as he usually does. Flora stirs between dreams, I've always loved to see her sleep. It fills me with peace. I extend my fingers with the intention of entangling them in her brown hair, but I retract at the last moment. She is whispering my name, with tears in her eyes. A crushing pressure grips my chest; my voice is nothing more than a whisper.

—Here I am, love, here I am. Why don't you see me? Why don't you listen to me?

She sobs. She's not the only one.

Every time someone pronounces my name, the same thing happens. They all put their heads away, carve their eyes or make a grimace of anguish.

I gasp, the darkness is absorbing me, scratching my interior and hammering my head. I fall to the ground.

**(II)**

Who knows how long I've been unconscious. I suppose it must have been a few hours, at least, because my body is stiff. My extremities don't respond and when I get up, I can't help bending over. I feel sick, tired, I would prefer to rest. I deny with my head.

Its daylight again, and I just follow the girls like a shadow. Even irony doesn't amuse me anymore. We are in Magix, the city of infinite skyscrapers and life that never sleeps. I know that the sky must have been dyed blue, the one Layla liked so much to admire. It reminds her of the sea, the waves, and her planet. All-day long, she hasn't looked at it. Not even sideways. Soon, I stop looking at the firmament, its tone is pale and dull. I don't like it.

The city is deserted. I suppose everyone is involved in their work or their studies. I'm surprised the girls aren't in Alfea, have they escaped?

I remember when we went to Gardenia. I think it was autumn because fallen leaves adorned the streets. We all went to a nightclub, one of those badass ones that my mother forbade me to go to. We all laughed and danced. A nostalgic smile is framed in my face. They caught us at that time. And the next, when we accompanied Layla to see what happened to Andros. About the sirens, and Valtor...

I kneel against the pavement. I'm not sure if my knees have been scrapped. If anyone saw me, they would think I had found something very interesting in the hard, cruel cement. If only someone could see me...

I lose track of time; I don't see the girls anymore. I guess I'll walk back to Alfea. After all, the hours are already shearing away the afternoon. I sigh.

People are so busy, in such a hurry, ignoring each other. Was it so painful not to be taken into account? But those were just strangers in Magix's MAGLEV.

**(III)**

It's unheard of, my feet don't hurt from the walk. I shrug my shoulders, something to be glad about. I open the living room door and the girls run out to see what happens. A warm bubble expands through my body. I think a smile pulses out. They are haggard and pale, though not as much as I am. They look at the door almost with deception. The gesture of joy dies on my lips with hardly any shape. They pierce the ambiance with their eyes, piercing me, as if I were not here, standing. I don't even make a gesture to greet them, I know it's useless.

I drag my steps to my room. They have packed my things. My breath is getting very short. Hot tears flow from my eyes without permission. There's something so cold in here. My art tools, my canvases, they're all inside boxes. My clothes have suffered the same fate. If it fits, the sounds move further away. There are no smells in the air, not even the perfume of lavender that Flora usually uses floats there.

All I hear are the low notes of an imaginary piano. I can't move. The darkness has spilled like ink on the walls and the floor. It's making its way through the ceiling. I am impregnated with it, without being able to clean it.

On Flora's bedside table rests a portrait of all of us together. We were celebrating her birthday. I gave her a little box with notes about why I fell in love with her. I hope she didn't get rid of the notes as well. Or the balloons, or the drawing I made for her.

There is a candle next to the painting. There's also the best friends necklace that Stella and I had. Domino's earring. The earth phone I got for Tecna to disarm. The favorite book that Layla and I loved to read and underline. Why do you leave them there? Why do you abandon those little pieces of my heart?

My voice tears to cry. They are forgetting me; they are getting rid of me. I ask myself, what did I do to make them no longer love me?

— Why did you leave? —Stella claims my portrait.

—I haven't left —I answer, with a thread of a voice.

—I wish I could let you go —Flora whispers, caressing the mark.

—You don't have to, I'm still here —I shout.

—Bloom —says Tecna and my heart sinks when I hear my name—, I've never been good with my feelings, but I feel an inexplicable pain in my chest right now. I wish you could come back.

— I haven't gone anywhere! —I cry out.

—I wish I had been in your place that day, you foolish redhead —laments Layla—. Now, you and Musa are gone.

A train of memories hits my brain. The battle, the screams, the blood... And Musa, she... I shake my head and a whip of pain invades my mind. I can't remember what happened to her. I don't know what happened to us. The idea that she has died is eating away at me inside. My eyesight fogs.

—At least, at least Musa doesn't... —tries to say Stella— At least she'll be able to come back, one of these days.

What if this is all my fault? What if that's why they ignore me?

—I'm sorry, I'm sorry for what happened to Musa. I don't remember, but it must have been very bad. But talk to me, please, tell me you don't want to see me anymore if you want to, but tell me something —I beg them, with a rushed voice.

My words echo again.

—Come on, girls, we have to give these things back to their parents — Layla urges them, with a broken face.

—I don't want to —says Flora—, I don't want to accept that she's gone forever — and she breaks into tears.

The silence is so tense that a pin could fall, and everyone would hear it.

—I haven't left —I say once more.

—It hurts us all, Flora —Stella comforts her, embracing her— and I'm not asking you not to cry for her, but we have to do this. Her parents will want to keep their things.

Flora doesn't answer. Layla joins the embrace. With a little clumsiness, so doesTecna.

I approach them, my feet are as heavy as lead and the darkness is consuming me, but I struggle to move forward. I prostrate myself before my friends:

—I haven't left.

I raise my arm to caress Flora's cheek, just as the brunette used to do. I'm so anxious to feel her skin again, to have her close by. I need it. I need them all.

My fingertips can't even feel it. They go through it as if she had become disembodied. Like a ghost. As if she didn't exist. As if I didn't exist. Not really.

I look at my arms, soaked in that filthy black ink. I scrape them hard. Under the thick liquid, my skin is translucent.

Suddenly the understanding comes to me.

I open my eyes wide and retract into myself on the floor. The girls get up and pass through me as easily as in the air. I am whipped by icy currents every time that happens.

—I haven't left —I repeat—. I haven't left — it's like a litany — I haven't left! —I don't recognize my own voice—. It can't be that I've gone...

I put my hands on my head and shake my hair. Am I feeling? Am I gone? Am I breathing? I wish this was a dream.

Finally, I surrender. I decide to lie down in my bed and let the hours end.

**(IV)**

The hinges of the door squeak a little when Flora reluctantly enters what was our piece. It hurts me to see her so empty, her and the room. She stands between the two pieces of furniture. The one that belonged to me has been deprived of everything: the sheets and blankets have been kept in the closet; the pillows are stacked next to the wall; I am no longer there and Kiko prefers to sleep with Flora.

My... girlfriend, are we still a couple? I look away, anyway, the love of my life is debated between lying in my bed or hers. She decides to accompany my memory, as far as I can see. She picks up one of the pillows and brings it up to her nose. It seems that my fragrance is still impregnated in that wilted object. I make the gesture of hugging her at the waist. I can't lean on it, so my arms hang down. From time to time, she moves and my skin pierces hers.

She's looking at the ceiling; more drops roll down her brown face. I continue to pretend that I am wrapping my arms around her.

After a few minutes, tiredness can with her and she lets herself be enveloped by sleep. I rub my nose with hers, feeling nothing but air. Have I really left? I should start believing it because Flora murmurs my name and squirms again. Will she be dreaming of that day? Instinctively, I try to wipe away her tears, but I can either. So I do the most ridiculous thing: I found myself with her, literally. Not even this comforts me.

**(V)**

I open my eyes with a gasp. The fog has spread all over the place, it is no longer possible to glimpse anything else. The curious thing is that there is no trace of that strange dark pitch that has haunted me all these days. The colors have stopped looking worn, and the atmosphere is warm, surprisingly warm. There is no shivering crawling on my skin. It's nice. Will I finally be gone?

In the distance, in the mischievous mist, I see Flora. She is kneeling in front of a tombstone. A royal palace rises around her, but I can't recognize it. As well as the corpses that get pissed off wherever I look. The sweet smell of decomposition dulls my senses. It's a slap in the face for my nose. Crows and vultures swarm to their liking.

The sky is tinged with a bloody violet. It would be almost beautiful if it weren't for the kind of landscape it' s adorning at the moment.

—Bloom, Bloom —weeps Flora.

I know she won't listen to me, but I have a hunch. I stand beside her, undecided as to whether to squeeze her shoulder to indicate my presence. It doesn't matter, this is a dream by all means. Or, a nightmare. So I do. She winces. She's afraid to turn her neck.

—Love — I say, with all the affection I can muster in a situation like this.

—Bloom...is that you?

—Yes, my love, I'm not gone —I assure her, although I know I'm lying brazenly.

She shakes her head.

—You're not real, it's just a dream, a very beautiful dream in which I can see you and hear your voice again.

—Yes, I'm real —I beg her—. I know you've packed my things, I know you're devastated, but I can see you.

She refuses to believe me. But she sits up and stands in front of me.

— Why do you always have to be so reckless? —she complains, beating me in the chest over and over again. I'll let her do it— if you'll ever listen to me.

I embrace her. Now I do, really, being able to feel her body against mine. The warmth that she emanates against the icy cold of my skin. She notices it but says nothing.

—Let me kiss you —she murmurs in my ear, awakening old sensations—, one last time. Even if you are a dream.

That's I need to hold her by the face and bring our foreheads closer together.

—I miss you too, my love. Don't doubt that I love you and that I will love you forever, even in death —I assure her.

I let our lips rub against each other with a delicacy that soon becomes a necessity. I wrap my arms around her with all the strength I have left.

—Tomorrow you won't even remember —I say, with regret—, but I just wanted to say goodbye, give you a kiss and let you see me once more.

I kiss her again, but she sobs in my mouth. So I keep talking.

—Promise me you'll be happy —I beg her.

—I can't...

—You're so pretty when you laugh and I wouldn't forgive myself if you never did it again.

My own tears betray me.

Among the violet sky, a shooting star is glimpsed.

—Even if you think this is a dream, remember to smile, because that's how I want to remember you.

—Darling, please come back.

A knot suffocates my voice. The sobbing continues to shake her body.

—It's up to you, now, to continue our journey. At dawn, I will have to leave, but you must go on.

—I never want to wake up —she implores.

—That night, that night, I couldn't properly say goodbye. Not to you, nor to the girls. Give them the message, okay?

I feel like I'm fading along with the mist.

—Don't go away, not again.

—Forgive me.

And I kiss her until something unknown begins to pull on me.

—I love you, don't forget it.

My skin is translucent and the black tar is back.

—Goodbye, Flora.

And everything becomes dark.


	2. Chapter 1: Relics of a betrayal

_«In chests of ice and gems, lies the essence of a goddess no one remembers. Betrayed by her sisters and condemned to eternal exile»_

**(I)**

—Ah, the relics of the forgotten goddess —warns Valtor, impressed—. But if you use them against me, heiress, you will die too.

A twitch takes hold of Bloom's lip. The atmosphere feels like a thick, suffocating liquid. She breathes in her place, with the pliers of fear squeezing her heart. She rubs her injured arm and tightens her eyelids. She is all shaking. She gulps down hard.

—And you with me, you bloody demon —mumbles the fairy.

Her heartbeats are frenetic and cold sweat runs down her back. But she does. She lets warm energy envelop her like an amber mantle. Little by little, the shape of an igneous dragon spins around her body.

Open her eyes. Splashing with power.

The Water Stars are illuminated with a blue tone that outlines the shadows of the place. They begin to spin and connect with magical links. In less than a second, an expansive wave explodes in the hallway. The rustle of the glass and the wall cracking makes a sinister echo. For a moment, the sound seems to have disappeared.

The ethereal cords that held the dark bearer disintegrate, like sand carried by the wind. At the same time as its creator, Musa is pushed backward. The click leaves her with a pain hammering her brain. Ears beeping and dust floating. She thunders her neck before wiping away the thread of blood that sprouts from her mouth. She barely rests on the wall, but the structure is about to give way. She contemplates destruction. An opening has smashed the window, the nearby doors are out of their hinges and a crater fills the wall. Valtor lies on the floor, like a broken toy, but still alive. The girl doesn't know it, but the wizard has used a last-minute shield to protect himself.

The median girl recovers her hearing and understands that her friends are still fighting the Trix, but everything is so muffled. She blinks a few times and is ready to walk. The ground is jelly under her feet, wobbling at every step. At last, she reaches the edge of the hole. Bloom is lying a few meters away, near splintered trees and surrounded by blood and more fissures zigzagging in the ground. The birds have gone out, frightened, but the crows have remained to observe with suspicion. She debates whether to finish off Valtor or to go with her. She shakes her head hard, what is she thinking?

The Encantrix has vanished from her friend, but Musa's wings are still good. When she sees her, she notices a certain deep and irregular cut, furrowing her abdomen. It's the same one that goes through Valtor's chest now. Her eyes are wide open. Chills run through her body, but they are not scary at that time. The black crows squawk, their red eyes almost glow with a kind of understanding.

An intense flash blinds them for a few moments and Stormy's body hits a column. The sound of bones breaking is unmistakable.

—Bloom!

Stella lands next to them, her breath is shaken and she rests on her scepter.

—Muse! What happened? —she asks— Tell me! —she shakes Musa.

—She... the Stars...—articulates Musa in an irregular tone.

No more words are necessary.

—Where is he? —Bloom finally reacts.

She is dusty and her forehead and her clothes are stained red. Musa puts a finger on her lips.

—Don't waste energy, we'll take care of him.

The domini girl makes a superhuman effort to turn her neck and look her in the eyes.

—Take me to him—she asks, dragging her voice.

Muse denies.

—You're crazy! And wounded, you reckless fool! —Stella weeps.

The sun fairy teleports a roll of bandages from the infirmary. She gives them to Musa.

—My healing powers... they will fix it —she exhales with heaviness—. But, my parents... what... —she passes saliva on her dry throat— he knows.

Musa tries to remember the exact amount of pressure to apply to wounds like that. She's bandaged her friends before, but it's Flora who usually takes care of these things.

More sparkles adorned the sky, like fireworks accompanied by pain and anger. Pyrotechnics of war and confusion. Wild groans and moans resonate equally. Flora was trapped in an illusion provoked by Darcy, suffering visions of Bloom that are not far from reality. On Alfea's blue tiles, Tecna is lying down and completely exhausted. A crow sits next to her. Soon, more arrive. Layla manages to take advantage of Icy. Ice against water. The fight is tough.

—We'll bring him to you—says Stella, frowning— and don't you dare move! —She threatens her.

The solari girl raises her scepter and, with the light tearing the air, the man appears before them. The girl falls to her knees and passes a hand over her forehead. She has used that trick a lot with Stormy.

The dark carrier moves into place and speaks to the air.

—I know where your parents are. They are alive. Let me live and I'll guide you to them—he says, breathing sharply.

Bloom tries to approach him.

—Tell me, now.

—He's manipulating you, don't you see? —Musa warns her.

The redhead gets up from the force, her muscles trembling from the effort. Musa holds her by the waist, preventing her from falling. She holds him by the lapels of that old-fashioned suit Valtor usually wears.

—Daphne, she's your mother —lies the wizard, but then he lets the silence run its course.

He smiles treacherously. Bloom has no strength to shake him.

—What more secrets have that nymph kept from you? —He laughs before coughing— If you kill me, you'll never know how to bring her back to life —he pressed.

Blackheads cloud Bloom's view. Crows prowl near, very near. But she feels that her heart is arrhythmic and her lungs are expelling more air than they should. In the distance, Darcy lets herself be defeated and hides in the shadows.

—Tell me—she demands, in an attempt at a firm voice.

—Let me go.

Flora lands next to both of them, and runs to embrace Bloom and interrogates her with her gaze. She caresses her cheek, but the redhead is far from paying any attention to her.

Muse lines her eyebrows and grunts from underneath. The melodian girl has twisted fists on her sides. She reminds of Layla's blindness, of Tecna's near-death in the Omega dimension, of Stella's father. One after the other, images of her friends wounded by that demon pierce her retinas. She won't allow it anymore.

—Ready, you're finished —she spits, raising her flute to intone that deadly spell Siri warned her never to use.

And her mother. She saw her in the crystal labyrinth. As healthy as if she had never sickened, waiting for her from the other side of a portal. With her almost black eyes and that traditional dress, she wore during her presentations. Her eyes flood. She takes the mouthpiece to her lips.

—Don't do it —beg Bloom.

—You know everything he's done to us! Because of him, you're like this!

A hot rage begins to bubble inside Musa. After so many lies, how could Bloom believe him?

—Let him go—she breathes.

The dark bearer contains the desire to laugh.

Musa throws a sonic sphere against the already shattered floor. The crows leave. Darcy melts into the darkness and shelters behind a column.

The girl grunts and invades the redhead's personal space. By instinct, Flora protects her with her body.

—What the hell's wrong with your brain?

Layla arrives. It took her a while to help Galatea hold an emaciated headmistress Faragonda.

Musa wanders from one side to the other, what was a winter breeze is turned into a gale. Wings and hair are agitated equally. Flora separates Bloom from Valtor, wrapping her even more in her arms.

—Are you going to let him manipulate you like that? Just let me finish this!

—Please.

—You know he deserves death!

The melodian girl tables her hair in frustration, almost pulling out a lock of hair.

Darcy puts her palms together and concentrates. An illusion surrounds Valtor and he "disappears". Lysliss' heiress does the same with her sisters and drops herself on the column. She is sweating profusely.

That setback is enough for Musa to explode.

—I GAVE MY MOTHER UP FOR YOU, BLOOM! So that we could find the stupid Stars! And what did you do!? Let him go! But you had him there! And you let him go! My mother...! And you can't even sacrifice parents you never knew!

The music fairy blows and takes her hands to her head.

—I... —Bloom tries to speak, but her sight is tarnished and her body no longer responds.

—Muse, calm," says Stella, making a gesture of peace with her hands. We can find a solution and, you know, with magic everything is possible, right?

—Anything but bringing back the dead! -spit out the melodian girl.

Stella scratches her neck. Bloom extends her arm between spasms to hold her best friend's hand. Her eyes no longer focus.

—Forgive me.

And she lays her head on Flora's shoulders, closing her eyelids. Now she's the one who looks like a broken doll.

—She's not breathing! —exclaims Flora.

Stella rests on the redhead's chest, heart in a fist. The movement is slow, but it exists.

—Of course, she's breathing!

—Help me carry her to the infirmary.

—I'm going —says Layla.

Musa screams.

—And now don't you dare die! Did you hear me, you fucking idiot?


End file.
